STAMFORD -- He came prepared for his three job interviews with detailed presentations, prioritizes good grades over touchdowns -- though the two are not mutually exclusive -- and is highly regarded within the community though a relative unknown beyond its borders.

All of which explains why, when his hiring as Stamford High School's new football coach two weeks ago was widely hailed in the city, there was one resounding question asked throughout the FCIAC: Who is Jamar Greene?

"I'm pretty sure people are asking who is this guy," Greene said with a chuckle. "Being that I am an educator, I always say education first. Coaching is my passion."

Greene, 36, is a language arts teacher at Cloonan Middle School. He is active in the Kappa Alpha Psi alumni chapter, which provides SAT workshops, tutorial services and other academic support.

"He was picked unanimously by a six-person committee and it was a collaborative effort," said first-year Stamford athletic director Jim Moriarty. "He's very good at working with kids. He's very good at staying on top of kids, staying on top of their grades."

Greene has a long history of coaching -- and winning -- in the Stamford Youth Football program. A former wide receiver and cornerback for the Black Knights, Greene was the freshmen coach at his alma mater for two years, compiling a 17-2 record, before taking over last year as Westhill's offensive coordinator.

Greene said his first two self-imposed mandates for his new job are to make sure the talent that had been confined to the school hallways finds its way back to the football field -- Greene said 53 players from his two seasons at Stamford are no longer with the program -- and that the numbers are equally impressive on the report cards as the scoreboard.

Greene has spent a lot of time at Stamford High -- he is hoping to get the necessary certification to soon get a teaching job at the school -- handing out pamphlets and talking to perspective players. Sessions in the weight room have been preceded by study halls.

"I want them to know what my philosophy is and how much fun it will be," Greene said. "Quite a few kids say they are going to come back out."

The tone of the discourse might give the impression that Stamford has an academically rogue program and Greene's job is to clean it up. But Moriarty feels football at the school has fallen short of reaching its overall potential, and said the job search centered on finding the right person to make sure Stamford flourished on and off the field.

"He has everything going for him," Moriarty said. "He's a teacher in Stamford, he has ties to the community, he played for Stamford High, he was the freshmen coach, he was an offensive coordinator and a lot of different people wrote letters on his behalf. He's incredibly organized. He knows what he wants to do. For a variety of reasons we are losing athletes from their freshmen to senior years. We want to get those kids back."

Coaches who have worked with him on the sidelines describe Greene as both a strong motivator and tactician.

"He really looks out for kids," said Tony Spadaccini, the commissioner of the Stamford Youth Football program, for which Greene has coached at both the elementary and middle school levels. "When I first started coaching Jamar had a tough group of kids and he put a good product on the field. When you look at his freshmen teams at Stamford, look at the records."

Frank Marcucio took over as Westhill's coach last year, and he hired Greene as the offensive coordinator. The Vikings, at 6-4, would have had their best record in 25 years if not for forfeiting four wins for using an ineligible player.

"He brings a lot to the table," Marcucio said. "I was impressed with his football knowledge. We did an awful lot of work prepping, and he did a good job with getting game plans ready and putting an offensive playbook together. He knows what he's doing."

And what is Greene's football philosophy?

"We are going to use the spread, pistol look," he said. "We have a lot of athletes and we are going to spread them out and let them go to work. I definitely want to see what personnel we are going to have. We will probably keep the 4-3 on defense and make a few changes, maybe use the zone blitz. I will be fine with the Xs and Os part."

Greene said it may take time, but his is confident he will win over the Stamford fan base and put together a program built for the long term.

"I have confidence in my ability," Greene said. "It's not going to happen over night. I've had success at the lower levels. I will put together a good staff and we will go out and go at it."